Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

---=.,Speedllflay _ Ronnie Correy (left) an d Gary Hicks slide around t he all-new Speedway USA facility in Victorville. California. where Correy won the main. " Sudden Sam" Ermolenko won three main events this week and leads the points going into the final at Carlsbad, although he 's leaving for England, 36 when Moran wen t down a nd Ott laid it down to avoid him . On the resta rt Moran go t a poor gate a nd fo und h i m self mire d in t hir d be hind Sa ndona a nd O tt. Moran took th e brea th away fro m the crowd with o ne sweep in g move th a t took him from third a n d into th e lead in turn three. H e rode on to victory a nd ea rned his berth in th e mai n . Sa ndona held on to seco nd in a close finis h o ver Shawn McConnel l. T he seco nd semi was all Mike Faria . H e streaked away from th e pack a nd left Mike Curoso a n d Chrisco to battle for seco nd, which is exactly what th ey did. So m uch in fact , that a bumping in cid ent sen t C uroso to th e d irt a nd broug h t ou t a red flag on lap three. Ch risco got excluded for caus ing th e ge t-o ff leaving Fari a with th e wi n a nd Curoso seco nd . Sem i th ree was Errn ol enko 's sh ow . H e won by a wide m argi n over S teve Lucero who had hi s hands full hol d in g back Brad Oxley for a ticket to th e co nso la tion . Kin g took th e final sem i o ver Alan Christian , who has won th e IMS Qual ifiers th e previous two seasons. Even though Christ ian cou ldn ' t take th e ma in h e was gea red up and ready to go for it in the co nso la tio n. Sa ndona got th e ga te from one but C h ris tia n went to th e o uts ide a nd m ethodica lly worked h is way by at th e en d o f th e first lap. Once out Iron t h e cu t down to th e in sid e a nd rod e the p ipe. Sa ndona staye d righ t on Christian 's rear tir e. but co u ldn' t ge t by and Christia n had four more points. Sa ndo na finis h ed a close seco nd just a head o f Lucero and Cu ro so . The m ain wa s just your weekl y IMS war. Moran burst into th e lead from th e pole foll ow ed by Faria , Kin g and Ermolen ko. Ennol enk o and Kin g sa ndwic hed Faria down th e back ch u te an d went by with Faria retak in g Kin g and sett ing hi s sigh ts o n E rmo le n ko. Erm olenk o then moved up to try Mo ran . H e was a ll over th e defending National Champ a nd it p aid off as he slip p ed by for th e lead o n lap three. Moran th en m oved o n to "S udde n Sa m 's" rear tire with Faria d irectl y behind Moran . T hey look ed like a freight tra in as th ey circled th e ligh tning-qu ick IMS surface a nd when they cro ssed th e lin e, a bla n ket co u ld have been tossed over th e first three - it was Errn o lenko over Moran. Far ia a nd King . Results MAIN EVENT: 1. Sam Ermolenk o (W es): 2 . Kelly Moran (Gdn l: 3. M ike Faria (Jaw ); 4 . Lance King (Wes) . CONSOL: 1. A lan Chr istian (GM ); 2. John Sa". do na (Wes); 3. Stev e Luc ero (Wes ); 4 . M ike Curoso (Wes) . Christian. Kossuth fly at Carlsbad By Gordie Orr CAR LS BAD, CA, AUG. 18 Alan " Crazy" Christian stormed to a co nv incing win in th e Scra tch main event over Robert P fetzing and Steve Lucero a t th e Car ls bad Ra cewa y Sunday n ight. Whil e Christ ian wa s strutti ng h is stu ff Louis Kossuth took ad va ntage o f a las t-co rner bobbl e by Gary Hi cks to w in th e H andi ca p m ain an d Steve Lyons captu red th e 7-Up Di vision T wo Championshi p . First- yea r rider Hi cks ca me o ff th e lO in th e H andicap main in a field tha t was pop u la ted by Firs t Di vision rookies . T he o nl y vetera n o f Firs t Division wa rs to ma ke th e mai n was Tom Burba and th e mai n gave a preview o f who th e stars o f th e fu tu re a re in so uthern Cal ifo rn ia speedway. H icks was the initia l lead er a nd was ch ased by Kossuth and Walt Fa rn u m . Ba rba moved into third before th e end of th e first circu it behi nd leader H icks and Kossuth but th at is as!ar a s he co u ld go . Kossuth (Jawa ) kep t the hea t on Hi cks, look in g C a h ol e that or never was to develo p , but co m ing ou t o f turn four as th ey headed for th e checkered H icks bobbled and Kossu th shot by on th e o u tside. T ha t mo ve gav e Kossu th th e wi n over Hi cks in a thrill in g fin ish . Bu rb a hung o n for thi rd. In the Scratch mai n Christ ia n trailed Pfetzin g on th e start. Pfetzing wh o , a lo ng w ith Lu cero an d C hristian, were th e onl y rid ers wh o rode a t Auburn Sa tu rday ni ght to mak e it to Carlsbad in time to race - h eld th e p oint position until lap two. Christian (ST P/ Va lvo line/Cirello Ra cingl Champion Spark P lug s/PBIIK&N I Bell /Hi -Po int/ Fib ergl ass Co nce p ts/ Advan tage Boat s GM ) went wide as th ey exited turn two o n th e seco nd circu it and raced by for the lea d in turn th ree. O nce out front there was no holdin g h im back and Christi a n stret ched h is advan tage to seven len gths a t th e checkered flag . Pfetzing h un g o n to seco nd trailed by L ucero a nd Bobby Ott. First-year rider Steve L yons (J awa ) too k th e lea d o n th e sta rt from th e sh ort yarda ge an d never looked back to win th e 7-U p Seco nd Division Cha mpions h ip. Behind L yons was a great war bet ween Randy Skin n er a nd Ma rk Brooks over th e first co uple o f la ps. Ski n ner fina lly asse rte d h im sel f a nd fini sh ed seco nd whil e Ri ck Vanderham took th ird a fter slipp ing by Brooks. Results 7-UP 0 ·2 CHM PSHIP: 1. Ste ve Lyon s (J aw); 2. Rand y Skin ner (Wes); 3. Rick Vand er ha m (Wes); 4 . Mark Broo ks (J aw) ; 5 . Jim Bla n IJ aw) ; 6 . John Grif tits (H·D). HA ND ICAP: 1. Louis Kossuth (Ja w) ; 2. Gary Hicks (Mae); 3. Tom Burba (Jaw ); 4 . Ronni e Corr ey (Gdn); 5. M ark We ave r (Gd n); 6. W alt Farn um Wawl . SCRATCH: 1. A la n Chr ist ian (GM); 2. Rob Ple tzing (Wes) ; 3. St eve Luc ero (Wes); 4 . Bob On (Gdn ). Ermolenko. Christian top Auburn qualifier By W.H. Spencer AU BU R N, CA, AUG . 17 Round one of th e U .S. Speedwa y qualifi ers ca me from a n ear rain -out to a " Sudden Sam" Ermolenko Scratch main win , but th e wi ly veteran Alan "Crazy" Christia n went home as po ints leader for the qual ifier series. Over a n inch o f slo p gree ted th e masses as a n unusual su m mer storm swept th rough th e Sierras, bu t work bv th e g ro u nd crew mad e th e track smoo th and rid ea ble except for one bu m p goin g into tu rn three. The to p 23 SoCaI riders travel ed up to northern Ca li fornia to do battle w ith th e top eig h t local g uys and New Yo rk 's Bru ce Nelson. Wh en a n in j u re d Kell y Moran scratched. T ony Brigg s go t to rid e in th e firs t o f 30 events , wh ich wa s won by Jim Lawson over Briggs and Paul O rlandi. In event two. Steve Lu cero went arou n d Rob Pfetzing for th e wi n after Greg Ayers was excl ud ed w he n h e to ok St ev e Martin into Lucero o n th e first sta rt. T he n ext four heats saw th e polep icke rs win . Oxley topped ra ce three o ver Keith Larsen and Duane Yarrow; Doug Ni col ran clean-up. Lance Kin g had a go od sta rt a nd took an easy firs t-rou nd victory in ra ce four with Ermolenko over Sandona and Northrup. David Faria had a tough chase with Keith Chrisco and Mike C uroso for hi s win in h eat five. Christia n was vic torio us in hi s first -round ride over T im McCa sland wh ile Mik e Faria capt u red race seven from pol esi tte r Shawn Mc:Connell a fter a good discussion wi th Pal Lin n . Mike Maz- zacan e ca me up with hi s o n ly win of th e night in number eig h t a fter a hot dispute with Mik e Dela cy a nd G ene Woods. Ermolenko got w ide in th e deep stu ff and received no points whi le . Wood s won over Lawson a n d Yarro w in race nine. "Showtime" Bobby Ott topped event 10 with a fin e pass on Ba st th en Lucero ca me up with th e fir st rep eat win in h eat II. Pfetzin g held off McConnell in th e next heat with Oxley th ird o ver Mazzaca ne. Pat Linn picked up three poin ts for hi s event 13 win when Sa ndona got in th e slop; Dela cy was third and Mi ke Curoso fourth. King ca me up with hi s secondstra ig h t pole a nd a w in in a grea t show with David Faria , Mart in and Orlandi . T h e first turn was a side by side show until Kin g p u lle d away for th e checkers over Martin a nd Orlandi with Fari a last. After the second round on ly four rid ers - Christi an, Faria, Kin g a nd L ucero - remained undeIeat ed , Oxley ga ted well in th e ope ne r of th e third an d last qua lifying ro und and went o n to win over Briggs and Ayers. Ermol enko put on a good show. taking a necessary win from Pfetzing a n d N icol to m ak e th e sem is whi le Andy Northrup scored a win over Linn. wh o had enough points to transfer. Lucero kept hi s score perf ect with a win in event 20 over O rlandi a nd Ott whil e Mik e Faria ca me o fft he outside to stay three for three in race 21 over Chrisco an d Martin. Dela cy kept MeCon nell a nd La rse n at ba y to win heat 22 whil e Da vid Faria kept up hi s honors winnin g event 23 over Mazzaca ne a nd Yarrow. The last qualifying event pitted Kin g against Christ ian , but it was Lawson o u t front until h e crash ed. leaving Chri sti an to defeat King. With six guys tied a t four points and o ne spot to fi II . two run -offs wer e cond ucted . The first saw Briggs beat out Orlandi an d Ott; McConnell ou tdueled Martin and McCas land in the second. Then ca me th e first of four semis with th e winner going to th e mai n and seco nd to th e consolation - bo th races worth mo ney a n d va lua ble points. . King got th e ga te wh ile Delacy hung on fo r second. A match between Briggs a n d McConnell saw th e la tter mak e th e last spot. Th e seco nd semi went to Oxley when Lucero fell ; Lawson made th e co nso la tio n. "Sudden Sam" came off th e line just right for th e third semi

• Cover